There was a hit piece published on Buzzfeed last week on Chip and Joanna Gaines last week. If you don’t know they are the hosts of one of HGTV’s house flipping shows. And no, I haven’t seen it, I no longer have cable (other than for the internet) and rarely watch TV. But the difference in this one is that the hosts are Evangelical Christians, and that was the point of attack. Here’s a bit from Brandon Ambrosino, writing in the Washington Post (yeah, I went , “Huh?” too).

I am currently planning my wedding, and I’ve never been happier. I believe that God brought me and Andy together and that God celebrates our love. I also believe that our marriage will offer a powerful testimony to skeptics that queer love can be God-honoring, and even sacramental.

I have heard from a few well-meaning Christian friends that they feel they can’t attend my ceremony. I think that’s silly, I think it’s theologically misguided, and it hurts me deeply because it makes it seem as if they care more about abstract principles than me, their friend and family member.

Still, I do not think these conservatives should be shamed or mocked. I do not think they should be fired. And I certainly do not think they should be the butt of a popular BuzzFeed article.

I’m referring to a non-story written by Kate Aurthur, published Tuesday on BuzzFeed. The piece starts off innocently enough by describing the success of Chip and Joanna Gaines, a husband-and-wife team whose series “Fixer Upper” is one of the most popular shows on HGTV. After pivoting to the religious beliefs of the Gaineses, and pointing out that they go to an evangelical church whose pastors oppose same-sex marriage, Aurthur then poses these questions:

“So are the Gaineses against same-sex marriage? And would they ever feature a same-sex couple on the show, as have HGTV’s ‘House Hunters’ and ‘Property Brothers’?”

The entire article is an elaborate exploration of that hypothetical question. And yes, it is very much hypothetical, by the reporter’s own admission: “Emails to Brock Murphy, the public relations director at their company, Magnolia, were not returned. Nor were emails and calls to HGTV’s PR department.”

But that does not stop Aurthur from writing almost 800 more words about the non-story. Her upshot seems to be: Two popular celebrities might oppose same-sex marriage because the pastor of the church they go to opposes same-sex marriage, but I haven’t heard one way or the other. (I can’t imagine pitching that story to an editor and getting a green light, by the way.) […]

BuzzFeed is probably at the forefront of discussions surrounding diversity in entertainment. But do their reporters think diversity refers only to skin color? Does ideological diversity count for nothing, especially when it is representative of, again, a sizable chunk of the American public? It’s hard to make the case that the website promotes this kind of diversity, particularly on same-sex marriage. In June, Ben Smith, the publication’s editor in chief, told Politico that “there are not two sides” on the issue.

Ok, ya all got that? There are not two sides to the question, so sit down and shut up, not to mention believe what we tell you to believe.

Well, guess what? A whole bunch of people say there are at least two sides to this question. Our churches (unanimously till about 15 minutes ago) have always believed and taught that marriage is between one man and one woman. A case can perhaps be made for SSM, civilly anyway, although I’m not going to, so don’t even go there with me. But the mainstream view is one man and one woman.

And you know what else? This supercilious, arrogant attempt to shut down the debate, that they created, is a good bit of why Donald Trump will be President. Because we all, any of us who disagree with the overly narrow left about anything, have simply had enough.

Decidedly true in America, in fact, you might even ask Kelloggs, who recently and ostentatiously pulled their advertising from Breitbart, and now is looking at a possible conservative boycott, or the failing network ESPN and it’s NFL franchise, or Target, and its frantic backtracking on bathroom policy.

A good many of us have simply decided to put our money where our mouth is, and you know, it works, not least because we are a 40% (at least) plurality of the country, and we’re not very happy lately. Vote with your feet, vote with your ballot, and yes, vote with your pocketbook. Remember this? So do we.

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Of course the word ‘diversity’ is an absolute joke when it issues forth from the mouths of activists for their own pet cause or perversion. If they truly agree with the logical extension of where ‘diversity’ tends then shouldn’t every show have neo-nazi, a KKK’er, a child molester, a schizophrenic, a gang-banger and a host of other ‘diverse’ characters . . . just to make it fair?

I do hope that in the future we have shows on HGTV that has Chip and Joanna building igloos for eskimos in TX though by the end of the program it would resemble a catfish pond unless they film it during a bitter cold snap. And how about refurbishing a teepee for some native americans?

It is actually their most refreshing show in my mind . . . as political correctness is not thrust in one’s face over and over again like in some of their other programming. I do wonder what activism for some cause or ideology has to do with rehabing a house anyway.

Yes, Nicole Curtis on the show Rehab Addict has done much to restore historic homes in the, now ruinous parts of the Detroit area. I don’t think it had anything to do with selling these properties back to the poor but in lifting the whold neighborhoods back to life by seeing what could be done to these old beautiful homes. It sort of get folks motivated to fix up their own homes and bring their neighborhoods back to life whilst evicting the crack addicts from their grip on their delapidated neighborhoods. Not sure how that is going . . . but at least she tries.

Yeah, her. I liked her show, and I like her self assigned mission. I don’t know either, if it’ll work, but nothing else has either, and I hope it does. And goodness gracious, those are some wondeful old houses.

That reminds me . . . it is time for me to make my annual call to ATT Uverse and rant with them about their increasing rates and lack of any programming worth watching. I am about to go to streaming and digital antenna for local news. My only problem is getting some of the news and financial channels that I get. Pretty much everything else I can do without. Some of these movie channels have been showing the same movies for about 5 years now. How many times can you watch the same movie? Seems a bit daft.

And the answer is Kodi. Download it. I haven’t found anything I can’t get (some cost a bit) American, European, British, Indian, you name it. Live, recorded every movie, ever, I think. Not to mention a gazillion radio stations, podcasts, even scanners. I run it on a Raspberry Pi 3, because it bogs my desktop, but it works there as well. Haven’t missed Charter for a minute, although I do like their internet speed.

Don’t know that answer, I have it on Windows and Linux, so there is likely a version. I think I have a friend that has it on his (Android) phone. If your computer is like mine, medium current, it should have a HDMI or similar output which will feed a TV. And from HDMI (or DVI, I think it is, there are plenty of adapters to get to component level.

Most of these technologies are converging, making life considerably easier.

Heck I use a TV for my monitor these days, lot cheaper to buy. And a 32″ monitor is sweet, I can almost read on it without my bifocals.

I’ll have to do some footwork then. One thing I don’t want to do is string HDMI cables all over the house: my phone, tv and computers are all connected to WIFI. I want some way to bring in the signal and then take it to the WIFI unit so that I can watch in another room on my 55″ screen or my 48″ screen.

Just got off finished with being disconnected by customer service for about the 4th time in trying to get my situation resolved. I’m giving up for the time being. Maybe I’ll find another solution before I try calling them again. I cannot believe that ATT has become such a poor company and totally devoid of marketing sense. It won’t be long before they run everyone off at this rate.

That’s part of why we run the Pi’s. they’re both wifi and bluetooth capable, not to mentions cheap, about a C note all inclusive. There are baluns that convert HDMI to cat-5 cable as well.

I hear you, Charter is marginally better, but only marginally. If I trusted our phone company, which I don’t for historical reason, I’d go with their fiber to house, they claim about 1 gig up and down, but they have attempted to censor my data stream before. Small local company, less trustworthy than Charter, it seems.

I could write a book about the lies and greed that has and will eventually be the collapse of the cable industry. We might start out with an introductory chapter about the initial lie that they would never have commercials; all you will ever pay for will be the monthly service charge. Then we could explore the introduction of the ‘bundling’ of channels. They are mostly useless and most of these channels could not survive on their own without ‘shared revenue’ being given to all channels whether they are watched or not. So we pay for pornography, LGBT programming not to mentions a jillion other useless unprofitable offerings. But we support it nevertheless. Then there is there lack of loyalty benefits if you stick with them. You sign a contract for a year and then they automatically raise your monthy charge without increasing service, quality or programming. So then, after a full day of speaking to one supervisor after another they will create a new deal for you and the process begins all over again. Is there any wonder why people are electing to chuck cable for streaming and antennas for their TV sets? I don’t know who their marketing people are but they are about as far from understanding their customers or their market as are the elite political class that asks for your vote though they have screwed us over and over again. SSDD. They will lose in the end unless they are forced to change their business plan which will happen or they will go broke for lack of customers.

They won’t change, near as I can tell, they’re run by accountants looking at the quarterly bottom line. Only one thing works with that mindset: “Burn it down, scatter the stones, and salt the earth.” It will happen, technology is like that, dbs sats should have done it but they got co-opted into the same deal. Don’t know what it’ll be, but someday, it’ll happen. None too soon, either.

One of the reps today told me that they are going to come up with a new type of bundle soon: apparently you can populate the bundle with the channels you prefer . . . I’ll bet that won’t be a good deal when it comes to the bill. The reason I’m saying that is that if they go that way they will lose more than 1/2 their offerings as the public isn’t watching them. We’ll see. Their whole model is based on this wide selection of shows which is nothing more than smoke and mirrors.

I don’t believe same sex marriage should be legalized. Homers can live together and pretend they are married, and what have you. When they die in that state they wind up in hell. That’s between them and Jesus the Judge. Im not going to apologize for my beliefs. Im not a politician. I don’t hate homers. I think they are yucky and sick.

"I do not love the bright sword for its sharpness, nor the arrow for its swiftness, nor the warrior for his glory. I love only that which they defend." J.R.R. Tolkien <br>“I come not from Heaven, but from Essex.” William Morris